A woman disfigured and blinded by an acid attack has won the top prize in the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Sonali Mukherjee will use the jackpot worth nearly £30,000 to fund her next round of plastic surgery after her family spent all their money on her treatment.

The 27-year-old has had 22 operations since she was attacked in 2003 while a student in the eastern city of Dhanbad.

She remains blind and partially deaf and as she despaired of getting more treatment, she applied to appear on "Kaun Banega Crorepati", the Indian version of the game show, which was featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire.

After being chosen as a contestant, she went on to win 2.5 million rupees after successfully answering 10 questions.

Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood legend who hosts the show called her "the epitome of courage" when she won.

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He said: "Sometimes we think that our lives are miserable, everything is against us and then (when) we come across someone like Sonali we realise how lucky we are and how much we have got going for us."

Ms Mukherjee told the AFP news agency that even with her winnings, she would need more money for treatment.

She said: "It's very easy for victims of acid attacks to swallow poison but I made the choice to stand up and scream and shout against the violence."

Her three attackers were arrested and spent some time behind bars but were later freed on bail and the case has been bogged in India's notoriously slow justice system.

She is now campaigning for tougher sentences for acid attackers.

"The men who threw acid on me are roaming in the open but if there were stricter punishments then they would be behind bars," she said.